Harry's Sorting
by Hazpotsfan
Summary: Being the biological son of two Gryffindors, but having spent his entire life with the Head of Slytherin, where will Harry be sorted?


The Sorting…

Severus sat in his place at the staff table in the Great Hall, watching the scene before him intensely. Although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was nervous as he watched his little Harry be sorted. He'd been sitting under that blasted hat for at least five minutes; students and staff alike had begun murmuring among themselves wondering what was going on. He himself had never seen a single student's sorting take such a long time and wondered what was wrong with the blasted hat! When he'd looked to his left a moment earlier he'd been greeted with the sight of Albus twinkling at him, which had only served to infuriate him more. Their wager the week before obviously had nothing to do with it…

The week before…

"Albus you old coot, you must be more addled in the brain than I thought! What makes you think Harry is going to be sorted into Gryffindor? He's been living with the head of Slytherin for the past ten years of his life and I know a Slytherin when I see one!" Severus scowled over the top of his tea. He wouldn't be surprised if Albus had merely called him up here to tease him.

"Come now my boy, I'm just preparing you for the eventuality that your son may be sorted into Gryffindor; after all both Lily and James both were! To be honest, the very fact that he's been living with the Head of Slytherin and strictest teacher in the entire school, yet still manages to get into more mischief than any other child I know and lives to tell the tale concludes my point! Just think about some of the things he's gotten himself into over the years, Severus!" Albus chuckled, twinkling back at Severus in that infuriating way of his.

Albus wondered off into an adjoining room in his quarters, claiming to be going in search for that packet of lemon drops he'd seen last week so that they could be passed on to Harry. Severus, of course, would be doing nothing of the kind; an eleven-year-old Harry high on sugar was likely to wear on his last nerve. Severus sat and grudgingly pondered over Albus' words. If he were to be honest with himself, he had to admit that the Headmaster may well have been right…

… upon walking in on his two-year-old who had been crying for the past ten minutes, despite having been put to bed, Severus picked up his son and cuddled him close to his chest. Harry, however, not so quick to forgive and despite having been scolded and swatted numerous times for hitting and scratching others, continued to shriek 'meanie Dada, meanie Dada!' at the top of his lungs and then proceeded to try and gouge Severus's eyes out.

… Harry, at the age of four, had proceeded one day to throw the biggest temper tantrum of his life and scream that his father was just 'one big nasty ol' git', most probably courtesy of some of Severus' older students. Severus, quickly losing his temper, had just raised his wand to cast a mouth-washing charm, when Harry had run out of the room yelling 'leave me alone, you dungeon-dwelling git!'

… a six year old Harry sat sulking in his corner and rubbing his ear, while his Father continued to yell at him. It seemed that Severus wasn't having any of his "But I really didn't do it, Dad! I just happened to walk in on Fred and George trying to flush Mrs Norris down the toilet! Do you really think I would do something like that?" Harry had been found at the scene of the crime, skulking around outside the bathroom, and most likely acting as lookout. The Weasley twins, who felt bad for Harry when they saw just who had caught them, had tried to cover up for him, and Harry had taken their example and run with it. "You can't prove it, Dad! You have absolutely no proof that I had anything to do with it! I was just walking up there when I heard their voices, just like you did!" Harry turned and scowled up at his Father. Severus was growing more enraged by the second, and had announced to the bent heads of the Weasley twins "You, my boys, will be sitting here and preparing Flobberworms every day until one of you confesses to Harry's involvement!" Upon this verdict, the boys had looked up pleadingly at Harry, who had rolled his eyes and finally admitted "Oh alright, Dad! I was involved! Happy?" Severus, however was not happy and after the 'longest lecture ever', proceeded to steer Harry to a table to help the Weasley twins – with the slight addition that he would be serving his punishment for an entire month for failing to tell the truth in the first place!

… having spotted a messy head of hair that belonged to a certain eight year old trying to escape round the corner, Severus sped up, hefted the struggling body up under his arm and returned to his potions classroom where his OWL class were attempting to brew a very complicated potion. "Ah, Mr Snape, it seems that I was wrong in laying the blame with Miss Green earlier. Would you care to explain what exactly happened to make her cauldron explode?" Harry, wriggling under the intense scrutiny of the entire class, some gazes sympaethetic, and some looks of admiration as the students realised that he had sabotaged a potion on purpose and still wasn't scared while standing with their Potions Master towering over him. "Sir, I really don't know what you're talking about," Harry replied, looking back at his Father warily. "No? Ah well, no matter, I know just the spell to find out who's little fingers it was who exchanged her porcupine quills for hedgehog quills! And if I find out that, that certain little boy is lying, he will not only have to complete Miss Green's detention, but also be grounded to my quarters for the next month!" Severus replied, his eyes narrowing, as he stared down at Harry as though willing him to overcome this sudden bout of idiocy and tell the truth. Harry, however, not willing to look like a baby by backing down in front of the other students, merely narrowed his eyes right back at his Father.

… "Understood, Harry? If I ever catch you trying to fly without supervision, the consequences are guaranteed to be unpleasant." Severus had warned a ten-year-old Harry merely a week earlier, when he had finally bought Harry his first broom, to which Harry had droned 'Yes Sirrrrr', looking longingly at the broom that Severus was putting away. That, of course, only meant that Ron, Fred and George had found Harry's idea of a forbidden flight even more appealing. Ron, normally the most level headed of the group, tended to stick to mischief that was not guaranteed to get him in trouble with the Potions Master, whom he was absolutely terrified of, but this proved too much to resist. His partners in crime had snuck in through the Floo and proceeded with their plan, only to get caught by Minerva, when during one of her classes, heard Harry whooping as they zoomed around the pitch. Following their stunt, when Severus had the four boys lined up in front of his desk receiving a thorough tongue-lashing for it, Harry had raised his face to his Father and said "But Dad, don't you think you're overreacting a bit? After all, the Weasleys' have known how to fly for years, and did you see me on a broom? I was fine!" The three Weasley boys stared at Harry with wide eyes, astounded at his daring, before looking at the floor again. Arguing with Severus while he was angry did not look like a good idea! Indeed, Severus sent the other boys to begin on their seemingly never-ending lines, while Harry was taken into a different room, most likely to be drawn and quartered again, the other boys thought.

Yes, Severus had to admit smiling wryly in remembrance of Harry's many 'brave', if not daring and foolhardy stunts, Harry may well be sorted into Gryffindor!

Back to the sorting…

"Not Slytherin, please not Slytherin! I don't care about being great, but you've got to understand, I can't have my Dad breathing down my neck the whole time! I'm begging you, I'll do anything!" Harry whined in his head.

"Very well then… GRYFFINDOR", the hat shouted out, abruptly, jarring Severus out of his thoughts.

Severus narrowed his eyes as he watched Harry run off to join his new Housemates, who shot a quick, wary glance at the Head Table, most likely trying to gauge his Father's reaction. Although, Severus had indeed come to terms with the fact that his son, whom he loved beyond belief despite the grey hairs he caused, may not be sorted into his house; the guilty glance, combined with a conversation earlier that week, led Severus to draw his own conclusions.

Earlier that week…

Harry and Severus had been sitting by the fire in their quarters, with Severus doing some last minute lesson plans, and Harry 'reading from his new textbooks'; Severus, however, knew his son well enough to know that he'd probably snuck a Quidditch magazine between the pages. Severus didn't say anything to this; however, he just shook his head at Harry in a disapproving way to show his son that he knew what he was up to. Harry grinned and completely ignored this gesture before suddenly piping up, "Dad. I was just wondering... say I were to get in trouble as a student and I were in your House, would you punish me as your son as well?"

"Harry, you are not going to get into any trouble this year. I forbid it!" Severus had replied, glancing up at Harry.

"I'm being serious, Dad! I just want to know what to expect!" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Hmm, yes. You always want to know just how mad I'll be so that you can prepare yourself; I honestly don't understand why you can't just obey the rules. But in answer to your question, yes you will. And your punishment as my son is likely to be a lot worse."

Harry rolled his eyes heavenward, in a fair imitation of his Father. "Hmm yes, I thought as much. Can't let me get away with anything, can you? It's not like anyone else is going to have punishments from their parents, I don't see why I have to!"

Severus shook his head as he smiled indulgently across the room at his pouting son. "You, my boy, along with those blasted Weasley boys, get in more trouble that any other child I know. I have to keep you in check somehow or next thing I know you'll be blowing up the school!"

Harry tried to stifle his laugh with a scowl, "Well I do find that annoying our resident dungeon bat makes my life more interesting… until I get caught anyway!"

Severus ignored him and went back to his lesson plans until he heard Harry bounce up from the sofa and saunter into his room, cheekily calling out, "No need to worry about any of that, if I don't get sorted into Slytherin anyway, eh?"

Back to the sorting…

Severus smirked as he came to the realisation that Harry had somehow managed to persuade the hat not to place him in Slytherin; that was quite a Slytherin move in itself! He would just have to pay extra attention to the weekly detention list that was circulated among the head of houses, in order to make sure that he could still keep Harry in check. Severus grumpily imagined decorating Harry's room, in his quarters, with Slytherin colours, in time for his next visit; it would serve him right after all!


End file.
